Amnestied resistance leader Serey Kosal has been keeping a low profile since returning to Phnom Penh last week.
“I want to live in peace. That is what I need right now,” the former Funcinpec deputy governor in Battambang said by phone Tuesday.
The usually outspoken Serey Kosal said that he would not answer questions about the relationship between Funcinpec and the CPP until he got permission from Funcinpec President Prince Norodom Ranariddh. “If the press wants to ask about the new [relationship], please give me the questions first to ask the prince, then I will answer to the press.”
He did confirm that he will be an adviser to the prince in the new coalition government.
Serey Kosal was part of a loyal group of Funcinpec commanders that Prime Minister Hun Sen described as “extremists” wanted by the government after the factional fighting of July 1997.
He was particularly known for his fiery anti-CPP rhetoric in the buildup to the fighting that ousted Prince Ranariddh as first prime minister.
